Formidable Punjab and Sind Bank and Corp of Signal, Jalandhar, moved into the semi-final of the Indian Oil Servo 109th All India Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament in contrasting styles in Kolkata on Saturday.
PSB struck a late winner to prevail over defending champions BSF, Jalandhar, 1-0, after Corp of Signal rode on a last minute goal by G Dass to hold Eastern Railway Sports Association 2-2 in group A quarter-final league matches.
BSF, who had lost to Corp of signal earlier, thus made an unceremonious exit from the tourney managing only three points from their full quota of matches. PSB topped the group with nine points and would lock horns with Punjab Police in the semi-final tomorrow.
The other semi-final fixture on the same day would see Corp of Signal, who finished second in the group with four points, pitted against Group B champions Army XI.
An upset seemed a possibility in the day's first match as local outfit ERSA opened up a 2-0 lead at the breather, but the armymen rallied back in the second half to restore parity.
The railwaymen went ahead in the 20th minute when Pitrus Ekka latched on to a pass from Yashveer Yadav and dribbled past two rival defenders to hit into the net.
They boosted their lead four minutes later as Nishar Ahmed converted a penalty corner, but the script changed in the second half with G Dass flicked in a Jagdev Singh free hit in the 62nd minute. He got the equaliser a minute from close when he intercepted an angular penalty corner hit by N Lakra and put the ball home.
More from rediff